I’ve been a terrible blogger lately! I’ve had so much on my mind with our house that I’ve left the blog woefully neglected. I promise that will change after Memorial Day weekend. I have a ton of content ideas that I’m working on and can’t wait to share! I just need to carve out time to actually bring those ideas to fruition.

We had our home inspection on Thursday and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. Obviously an inspector is hired to point out every little thing that’s wrong in a property — and there’s a lot in an 88-year-old house that’s been neglected for 15 years — but it’s a bit shocking to realize just how much work we’re taking on with this property. The good news is that everything we do to the house will be an improvement, and it is exciting to bring the home back to life and really make it our own. But that needs to happen after we tackle some plumbing and electrical concerns. (I’m not exaggerating when I say a third of the electrical outlets don’t work.) But there are also some more fun maintenance projects like replacing the shattered glass doorknob in the bathroom with a new-to-us vintage one that I’ll be hunting down on eBay this weekend. I also had a floor guy come out to give us a quote on refinishing the hardwood floors throughout the house. His estimate came in $1,500 less than I was prepared to pay. Whoohoo! Anyway, it’s a process! We met with our realtor yesterday afternoon to go over the inspection report and the quote from the electrician to decide what we’re going back to the seller with to repair some of these things. And then, I’m unplugging as much as possible this weekend to give myself a chance to recharge.

Weekend Reading:

Did you see the Instagrams that Pete Souza posted of “President” Frank Underwood? So. Good. I can’t wait for the May 30 debut of the next season of House of Cards. It’s my birthday, so we all know where you’ll find me that day…

This dress looks more expensive than it is. I’m debating between white or navy.

Sure, pretty packaging makes for a great Instagram opportunity, but are we just creating more waste than necessary?

This is totally nerdy, but my favorite post I came across this week was this one on how to change outlets. Our house has a lot of black ones (which I might keep, depending on how they look when the rooms are painted and the floors are done) and outdated almond-colored ones. I’d like to swap them for white.

Grace included this jewelry cabinet in her weekend roundup. I’m absolutely obsessed with it! The best thing about our house is the “fourth bedroom,” which is really a walk-in closet in the upstairs hallway. There’s more than enough room for all of my clothes and I’d love to add this cabinet for my jewelry, which you know there’s a lot of!

Old Navy: If you have a Gap brand credit card, you can snag flip flops for men and women for just $1 with code FLIP. We love having these on hand for trips to the water park, so it’s not a big deal if a stranger accidentally wanders off with the wrong pair.

I thought about keeping mum about this until after our home inspection next week, but I’m terrible at keeping secrets: we have an accepted offer on a house! It’s a diamond in the rough that was built in 1929 and, sadly, hasn’t been taken care of over the years. The owner has been living with his girlfriend and left this house all but abandoned. We were really lucky that he asked our agent’s firm to sell the house because we were able to get in before anyone else and put in an offer at asking without competition to drive up the price. It’s in our ideal area (in fact, it’s three blocks away from the house we lost last year) and has charming details inside, including original hardwood floors throughout. The big things in the house (roof, siding, windows, furnace, air conditioner, etc.) have been taken care of, but the interior hasn’t been well-maintained or updated. We’re in for an adventure together as we bring this gem back to life! This isn’t going to be an easy or fast project. We don’t have an endless bank account to go in and make all of the changes right away. There’s going to be compromises and patience and DIYs! It’s going to be a labor of love, and we’ve actually purchased a URL to blog about our journey. (It redirects here for now, but I’ll share it once our first post is live.) If you want to follow our Instagram account before we actually have content, it’s @curatedcouple. I know I’m getting ahead of myself because it could all fall apart after the inspection, but I’m cautiously optimistic. Send good vibes!

I just discovered Orlando’s blog and Instagram last week and I’m absolutely obsessed with his aesthetic, personality, and refreshingly honest take on relationships and not having a picture-perfect lifestyle blogger persona.

Can’t say I totally hate the idea of rompers for men, but I do hate the name RompHim.

Whitney looks adorable in a bee-print dress. I never would have expected it was from the Victoria Beckham for Target children’s collection!

My birthday is fast approaching on May 30! This dress would be the perfect frock to celebrate in.

We’re considering a long weekend getaway to Atlanta in August. Of course, the first thing I looked into was the best murals for Instagrams and outfit photos. 😉 Let me know if you have any recommendations!

I’m all about the gadget Jess found that helps keep her from murdering house plants. (I’m the worst at remembering to water them.)

Speaking of plants, learn more about “the Blue Apron of agriculture.” Basically, there’s a company called Seedsheet that sells collections of seeds in a plantable weed-blocking fabric. The fabric eventually dissolves and you’re on your way to growing dinner.

While I was working on this post this morning, Dave peeked over my shoulder and teased “Weekend Reading … about myself.” He’s so punchy in the morning! (::eye roll::) But yes, one of this week’s highlights includes my feature in Madison Magazine this month as one of the city’s most fashionable people. It was so flattering, but I really can’t hold a candle to the others featured in the section! (And in retrospect, I wish I had went with sandals for the picture. It was a chilly day in early April when we shot these and while we were inside the humid botanical gardens, it didn’t cross my mind to bring along warm-weather footwear!)

I house-hunting news, we have two properties to see today that have potential. One has been updated, but not to our tastes. (The bathroom is completely done in brown tile. It’s something…) However, it has a lot of space that we can expand into and my favorite feature is an upstairs bedroom with a balcony overlooking the backyard. It looks like such a relaxing space to make into our office. The other house was built in 1929, in our ideal neighborhood, and not officially on the market yet. We haven’t seen any interior photos and our real estate agent cautioned that it needs updates, but I’m still optimistic and it would be a relief to not have competing offers.

Fran shared her experience saying yes to the dress at Kleinfeld Bridal.

I’m sure we’re going to end up with a less-than-stellar bathroom in our house. Provided the home has more than one bathroom, Dave gave me the green light to paint the vanity pink like Elsie did in her guest bathroom. He cautioned that it means we’d also need to find a vintage brass light fixture for the room, preferably with a pineapple design. (This is love, people.)

Twenty-four books to add to your summer reading list. (I used to be such a voracious reader and I’m trying to get back into it. Let me know if you have any recommendations. I’m a sucker for psychological thrillers and compilations of humorous essays.)

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Celebrate with homemade margaritas, but leave the sugary mix at the store. Here’s all you need for the perfect marg. (This is pretty much the recipe I use, except I use agave nectar instead of simple syrup.)

I’m not sure it’s possible for me to love Gray Malin more than I already do, but this interview solidified my fan girl status.

The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday. I love betting on horses probably more than I should, but I only do it on four occasions: when I’m actually at the track, Derby day, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. For the last three, I only put $25 down on the first race and use any winnings for the last two. (I’m pretty risk averse!) Read up on the Derby contenders here.

New Orleans is more than just booze and beads! (The opening picture to the NOLA city guide is my favorite travel pic I’ve taken yet. There’s a good chance I’m getting that one framed for the new house whenever it happens!)

Happy Friday! After touring a home last Saturday that left us both underwhelmed, we headed north to Dave’s parents’ cabin for an overnight stay. Even though it was brief, sipping beer on the dock and chatting by the late-night fire was the perfect mini getaway to start the week refreshed. It was also the maiden voyage of the Soludos slides above. They’re ridiculously comfortable so long as you don’t mind going without arch support.

This weekend also promises to be laid back. If the rain holds off, I’d like to go to the farmers’ market on Saturday and then we have two homes to see this weekend. Each of the houses have their pros and cons. One is a two-story home built in 1920 with a ton of original character and charm (and the smallest galley-style kitchen ever and no air conditioning). It’s $65,000 less than the other contender: a 1956 ranch that has been updated with a much larger and functional kitchen, a finished basement, larger bedrooms, and the cutest vintage bathroom with original tile and a turquoise tub. They’re both in good neighborhoods and close to the bike trail. I’m hoping that we’re drawn to one in person, and that we can have an offer accepted and put this whole hullabaloo behind us and start focusing on the good stuff: paint and furniture.

I haven’t started reading this interview with Anna Wintour on politics and the business of fashion yet, but it looks interesting. (I helpfully emailed it to myself two days ago with the subject line “read.”)

We all know that I rarely don a pair of heels, but I’m tempted to add these to my collection in the red-orange hue.

As if I didn’t already have intense wanderlust, a roundup of the prettiest beauty boutiques to visit is making me yearn to book a trip.